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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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h * ^ p ^^^ tn tfe SJ < ^ mnt ^ nd ^ R ^ f 3 * an , tfcfce . t ^ &o # of ^ v ; p ^ ^ 4 ^^ a ^ ^ ple ^ ures , ai ^ I linked 4 o £ gm e gj ( j . Qv ^ most divide speculations Whicn we are capable of indulging . My 4 ^^ g a is > therefore , to inquire whataxWa&tage the Calvinist possesses jby reason of bis belief in the Trinity ,
fCiyer those who maintain tile proper wiity of the Great First Cause of all things . A mystery , in order to excite lofty emotions of any kind , must not be entirely a secret . It must not be " invisible . " but € * dimly seen . " It must
afford the materials , however visionary and f light , which fancy may mould i > nto images beautiful or sublime . The joy it excites consists not in the absence but in the plenitude of ideas . . "We ipus £ , therefore ,. be able to form
some conception respecting the objects of our wonder . A mere Gordian knot vrfridh . we cannot untie ; an enigma we cannot solve ; a direct contradiction in terms which we are unable either to understand or explain , can never become the spring of imaginations either tremendous or delightful . If , for instance , a person ignorant of
Algebra is informed that there are quantities less than nothing , he will derive nothing but perplexity from the information , though he may firmly « i iii ,- n ... ¦ his triumph \ % peculiarly his own . The love offaine is confessedly the passion he most ardently cherishes . Surely , then , the imagination is , to speak in Mr . W ' s . language , 33 proud a quality as the understanding .
And , on what is his hypothesis founded put the very reason which the author endeavours to dondemn ? What does the Wdfd " accordingly" imply , but the deduction of a conclusion from its premises : So that here is a paragraph written in defence ot * humility , " founded upon the proudest ^ quality of our nature ; " and , in such a case , V what can be expected but contradictions ?"
It is almost oeedlesslo observe , that these qbsfervations leave untouched the merits of jVfr . W ' s . poetry . Here indeed he is far ^> q ve my feeble praise . In acute sensibi-Tfty , in the philosophy of nature , in the delineation of all that is gentle in man , and in the power of rendering earthly images ^ ethereal , I believe him to be surpassed "by libtte in imcient of modern timeS . But 1
WbtaM confine poetry and reason to' their nespechVe uses . ' ! Wfcmld kib more ' altow jthe ^ bmjef to usurp-tbeplaee ( o £ tke l »^ r , tWI wfauld suffer a spirit of eowWited criticisifit to * deprive me of my , pttfes £ < $ 0 j 9 yjnwiia ,
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believe u 0 % tfiexredit of the . sneaker . it isj [ ust 30 w ; m the peli ^ er m the Trirnty v Jtle says bi ^ cr * #$ i ^ , & oyp is three and * hat t ^ ree ' | ^ re fine jbtjt has he tti < i mp& fajlniii ^ ea ^ -of 4 iq ponders he ; receives t Does any dim vU siorx of ; something unea ^ rt ^ i ^ y , In whiqh tl > ere is a qi&Unctiqr ^ pf person a cOm ^
biped with a unity ofsubstapce , swim before the eye of \ i \^ fa n py ? .. No , I ^ e t him ivork up , hi& powers ,, of iippLag ii ^ tion to the utmost , he ? > viU ^ tUJ ) 3 e , aVle only to conceive , of thr ^ e separate htings , in v ^ hich there is . ng , mystery $ t
all . All the wonder consists m their union , and of that he can iniagioe nothing . His idea must t > e either of three divine substances . distinctly , or of one alone . In the latter c $ se , he can have no associations . ., which , tHe
Unitarian does not . erijoy ; ap 4 * in the former , as plurality is his only advantage , he is far below the most ignpKuU inhabitants of Rome . Ail that is , truly sublime in his creed aris . from a contemplation of the Ojvjne essence as embodied in a single form . His peculiar belief amounts only to this , tnat theje js something about which he can believe nothing , rle may use ttjeterm
Trirticy , or any other phrase of human invention , but it must come to thjs after all . He is precisely in the condition q £ a person unacquainted with the laws * of nature , who should be told that there is a mysterious principle called gravitation * in which he must believe : but whose ide ^ s
respectmg it , ^ supposing him . to gjve credit to his informer , would probably be as accurate as that of the ,, blind man , who heard that scarlet . a brilliant colour , and : then conjecture d it must resemble the spund of a trumpet . A Trinitarian falls short e , Yen ° f this conception . He can surely 4 $ riv , no sublime ideas from belief in his
favourite mystery , since it , does ; not afford him even the dimmest image of the object he supposes it to conceak When the poetical champion of pr " thodoxy asserts that there is soaie ^ ing more lofty in the contemplation of W JDivine Being as a triunev ^ uhsWP ^ ihan as properly opie , jpa ^ avl ^ i ^ tbe former < is mor ^ , ( in y ^ er ^ pu ^ , j ih mu ^ ta ^ iftijt tha ^ t , iri fb $ lattery < te $ * P&PQ&sity ? W ^ UrtU ty . is w ; antina , l ' w > 9 ^ Q % ^^ 4 & ^^ ' ttm ^^ ^^^ d « W-rf ^ ijWMfelJT-. iJntea « . ; ili ^ Mf PP * fee * . There rn-ust b $ a ^ . pp ^ eT , m « wcinatioja to m ^ ke it mo re awful tnaa
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918 * Qn PqeticalSc $ pt ! ic $ sm Not J / #
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1816, page 218, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2451/page/30/
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